Manuel: ‘We owe the Yankees one’
With just 22 days left until pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel met the media today at Citizens Bank Park and let everyone know “We owe the Yankees one.”
Some other selected snippets from the skipper…
Of course, it would have been nice to have Halladay, Lee, Hamels, I’d be looking good. I might be buying more expensive furniture than me and the missus have been buying lately.
I haven’t talked to him at all. I left him a message at Christmas and told him he didn’t have to call back if he was caught up in things. I don’t need to talk to Haladay. I’m just going to give him the ball every five days and tell him to go get them … He likes to pitch. He likes to throw his game. He’s my kind of pitcher.
Lidge and Madson are mentally tough guys. They are not going to go to the trainer or the doctor. That makes me feel good. Both of them can pitch two innings and they will take the ball wherever I want to give it to them.
JA Happ should feel real good about himself. He sits right there in the rotation. He’s going to pitch on a regular basis. He has to pitch himself out of that. He will have to hold his own … Last season was not a fluke. He was a big reason why we got there and won some games. He’s going to be a big part of our rotation.
I’ve always told Hamels, ‘I used to tell you to throw more curveballs. You used to get by’ … I didn’t really push him. If he gets more consistent, he’ll get lefthanded hitters out better. That will make his changeup and his fastball better when he comes inside. Lefthanded hitters have good success off him. That’s one of the big things about his pitching. The big thing is he has to improve his curveball. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s his curveball or if he comes up with a slider.
For the full transcript, click here (David Murphy’s High Cheese blog).
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